Cheryl loved her job at the preschool in her neighbourhood. As an early childhood educator, she had been working with young children for 22 years. While often exhausting, her work was satisfying, and she loved watching the children grow and learn. She found tremendous meaning and joy in her work. When Cheryl had been studying to become an ECE, she learned many important skills. From understanding child development to creating a play-based learning environment, she felt well prepared for the career she was heading into. What she wasn’t warned about was the physical aspects...

Many of us tend to associate severe back pain with strenuous movement such as intensive physical exertion and heavy lifting. What many don’t realize is that too much inactivity can have as much, if not more of a negative impact on the back than over activity. Taylor learned this the hard way. When Taylor approached us, he was 47 years old and had been a truck driver all his life. Skilled at his work, he took pride in being a reliable employee. For just under 20 years he had done his job well, and it had been rewarding. However, his work was also taking a hard physical and...

Carl graduated from college five years ago, and felt fortunate to quickly secure a job in his field – human resources. He found his career path compelling, was friendly with all of his co-workers, and felt satisfied with his work life balance. Carl had always considered himself to be a fairly even tempered person. He was rarely overly enthused, but rarely felt anger or frustration. Overall, he was content. In his fourth year at his job, he started to experience minor back strain while sitting at his desk. To combat it, he started taking more frequent breaks and...

Some architects prefer the office, but Sarah had always enjoyed going to construction sites. She loved watching them break ground on a building she designed. It made her feel like little kid playing in the sandbox and it was thrilling to see her visions become reality. That’s why she usually volunteered whenever the firm needed someone to inspect a site. Her more bookish colleagues never wanted the job, but she was happy to get away from the desk for a bit of fresh air. Sarah never really worried about safety. Her firm’s projects met every structural regulation and she...

Approximately 80% of all Canadians will experience back pain at some point in their lives (some estimates go as high as 84%), and the number is still as high as 50% in any given sixth month period. Anywhere from 34 to 59% of Canadians will experience an acute or subacute back pain episode, while as much as 25% of the population is living with chronic back pain at any given time. Back pain is also most common in people between the ages of 30 and 50, which means that otherwise healthy people in the prime of their careers are most at risk. That’s what makes it so...